A wide range of models from DPA Microphones have been deployed for a slate of recent U.S. events that include the Catalina JazzTrax Festival, Belmont University’s Oratorio Chorus and Orchestra, Danny Elfman at the Hollywood Bowl, along with the upcoming Los Angeles Ballet performance of “The Nutcracker” at the Dolby Theater.
The annual Catalina JazzTrax Festival set on Catalina Island has been made possible for the past 26 years by production manager and audio engineer Gregg Hudson of Hudson Audio, who’s been assisted by front of house eengineer Spenser Bishop of MixOne Sound since 2008. This year, 22 bands performed across two weekends, supported by a selection of nearly 20 DPA models that include 4099 CORE extreme SPL instrument, 2011 twin diaphragm cardioid, 2028 vocal and 4055 kick drum microphones.
“The room is like a giant fishbowl, one of the hardest I’ve ever mixed in, and the microphones made it all better,” Bishop explains. “Everything felt separate and controlled. Normally, I can’t put that much of the drums into our mix, but with DPAs on basically the entire drum set, I had a lot of control, which was awesome. The vocal mics were also super focused — for the singer to be within 10 feet of the drums and to not get a lot of noise was wild. The 2028 is the best wireless vocal capsule I’ve ever heard in my life. We haven’t had this many great microphones for isolation and control before; the room really needed that.”
At Belmont University’s new Fisher Center performance hall, DPA mics helped project a presentation by the Oratorio Chorus and Orchestra of “Requiem for Colour,” a musical, literary and visual journey honoring the lives, legacies and history of Black Americans. Featuring an 80-piece orchestra and 400-person choir, the event was recorded under the direction of Doyuen Ko, associate professor of Audio Engineering Technology, who specified the 40 DPA mics, including the 4006 omnidirectional condenser, 4015A wide cardioid, d:facto 4018 VL vocal, 4097 CORE supercardioid choir and 4041-SP large diaphragm microphones, and more.
“DPA microphones have always been my first choice for classical music recording, for more than 20 years,” says Ko. “Whether in the studio or for live concerts, they consistently provide a high-fidelity, truthful sound for any instrument or ensemble. The DPA 4011, 4015 and 2011C on strings, singers and percussion delivered a full spectrum and uncolored sound with excellent off-axis rejection and response. I barely used any EQ on them and, as expected, the main Decca Tree setup with DPA 4006 performed beautifully, striking the right balance between ensemble definition and hall ambience. The small form-factor of the DPA 4099, 4061 and 4097 mics allowed me to place them easily and inconspicuously on a jam-packed stage.”
To set the mood this past Halloween season, live sound engineer Troy Choi was called upon to run monitors for the Danny Elfman shows at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, where he employed DPA’s new 4055 kick drum and 4099 instrument microphones for the orchestra and drum set, and the brand’s 2028 vocal capsule for Elfman. “Every time I mix a show, I always try to use DPAs,” Choi states. “No matter the genre — rock, pop or classical it always turns out great. The 4055 provided fantastic sound; the drummer and crew were so happy and awestruck by the quality. I always encourage people to use DPAs for drum sets, even complex rock drumming. If you’re looking to go to the next level, DPA is it!”
Choi will also be serving as FOH engineer for the Los Angeles Ballet in late December to mic the company’s 65-piece orchestra for performances of “The Nutcracker” at the Dolby Theatre. For this, he plans deploye two DPA 4097 CORE micro shotgun, 2011 twin cardioid and 4011 cardioid condenser mics, as well as 30 DPA 4099 CORE instrument mics with stand mounts. Choi: “When I got hired to mix for the Los Angeles Ballet, the first question I asked was if we could use DPAs for the orchestra. I said: ‘If you want me to create amazing sound, I need DPAs.’ As a mixer, I will always have choices and options when it comes to mics, but DPA is the only choice in my opinion, especially for orchestras—they make it so simple. With DPA 4099s on the brass and strings, as well as 2011s for the woodwinds and 4011s for ambience, you can achieve a completely natural orchestra sound.”
Finally, the Santa Clara Vanguard (SCV) Drum & Bugle Corps took its team to the annual Drum Corps International World Championship Finals with DPA 4099 CORE instrument mics along for the ride. The team, which competed against 11 other corps and ultimately took fifth place, took advantage of the experience of audio technician Jonathan Yoo, a longtime DPA user, in the competition.
“The DPA 4099 is my go-to instrument mic,” Yoo explains. “Right out of the box, the 4099 raises the clarity and quality of the soloist it’s amplifying. With the team’s previous mics, the biggest issue was that the large diaphragm didn’t allow us to run a lot of gain before hitting feedback. With the 4099s, the color and clarity is so obviously differentiated and sets it apart from the competition. As soon as I switched over to DPA, I had other band directors asking me what I did because it sounded incredible. My only response; ‘It’s the DPA 4099s.’”
